1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to medical accessory mounting systems and more particularly pertains to a new system for mounting medical accessories on supportive structures for providing a uniform system of quickly and conveniently mounting a variety of different medical accessories on a variety of different support structures.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Medical accessories, such as intravenous (IV) fluid supply bags and fluid pumps, are typically supported on an IV support post adjacent to a patient being treated with the IV fluids. The IV support post is usually mounted on a wheeled base that permits the support post (and the items supported on the post) to be moved with the patient as the patient is moved between locations in a treatment institution. The patient is often supported on a bed, stretcher or wheelchair, especially when the patient is being transported between locations. The IV support post is usually rolled on its wheeled base with the bed, stretcher, or wheelchair supporting the patient.
The movement of the IV support post presents a number of difficulties, one of the most vexing being the top heaviness of the support post when an IV fluid bag is suspended from the top of the support post and an IV fluid pump is also mounted on the post. The support post is thus very vulnerable to tipping, which can strike the patient or care personnel, or even pull the IV tubing and needle from the body of the patient. The wheels on the base of the post only exacerbate the tipping problem. To counter the tendency to tip, the base of the IV support post has a plurality of legs radiating outward from the post to wide the supportive base of the support post. However, the radiating legs of the base pose a tripping hazard, and this makes the support post difficult to move through doors of rooms and elevators at the same time as (or in close proximity to) the bed, stretcher, or wheelchair of the patient. As a result, additional care personnel are often employed to transport the IV support post or posts along with the personnel just dedicated to transporting the patient.
The use of IV support posts thus have presented a safety problem to patients being transported, as well as stationary patients, and also to care personnel. However, any solution to this problem must permit easy mounting and dismounting of the medical devices on conventional support structures for supporting the medical devices, such as existing IV support posts, as well as patients support structures such as patient beds, stretchers, wheelchairs and the like.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of medical accessory mounting systems now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new system for mounting medical accessories on supportive structures construction wherein the same can be utilized for providing a uniform system of quickly and conveniently mounting a variety of different medical accessories on a variety of different support structures.
The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new system for mounting medical accessories on supportive structures apparatus and method which has many of the advantages of the medical accessory mounting systems mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new system for mounting medical accessories on supportive structures which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art medical accessory mounting systems, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a female mounting component for mounting to a supportive structure and a male mounting component for mounting to a medical accessory. The female mounting component comprises a receiver assembly for removably receiving the insertion member. The receiver assembly comprises a base member and a pair of opposed channel members mounted on the base member to form a receptive channel. The receptive channel has an upper end and a lower end, with the receptive channel having a transverse dimension that decreases from the upper end of the receptive channel toward the lower end of the receptive channel. The female mounting component includes a first mounting structure attached to the receiver assembly for mounting the receiver assembly on a supportive structure. The male mounting component comprises an insertion member removably insertable into the receptive channel of the female mounting component at the upper end thereof. The insertion member has an upper end and a lower end, with the upper end and the lower end each having a transverse dimension that decreases from the upper end toward the lower end. The male mounting component includes a second mounting structure attached to the insertion member for mounting the insertion member on a medical accessory. Optionally, the second mounting structure comprises a bag hanger structure for supporting a fluid-holding bag. Optionally, the first mounting structure may comprise a bracket mounting structure for mounting the receiver assembly to a bar supportive structure, a clamp mounting structure adapted for mounting the receiver assembly to a bar supportive structure, or a track mounting structure for mounting the receiver assembly to a track. Optionally, a pair of the receiver assemblies may be coupled together such that the receptive channels of the receiver assemblies are oriented in opposite directions.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.